


The Honest Mistake

by princessgongjunim (MyOwnCharacterInEverything)



Series: The Pining Idiots of Angel Café [5]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Crush, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21656452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnCharacterInEverything/pseuds/princessgongjunim
Summary: If Yuta had been in his right mind, he would have realized that his family was staring. He would have realized he was holding up the line. He would have realized that leaning over the counter like this probably wasn’t hygienic at all. But seeing as he was hypnotized by Winwin’s hopeful eyes, he didn’t even take into account that he was biting into the brownie while Winwin was still holding it, all while Winwin gently kept his other hand under Yuta’s chin, presumably to catch crumbs. In fact, Yuta hadn’t even noticed it was there until Winwin brushed his thumb over Yuta’s lip.“You had some crumbs,” Winwin explained, an all-too satisfied quirk to his smile.It was all a blur after that. Yuta was high on being fed by the love of his life, and he didn’t even realize that he was sitting down with his family until Haruna smacked him back into reality.“Ow!” Yuta whined. “What was that for?!”“Nii-san,” she hissed. “Why didn’t you tell us you had a boyfriend?!”(In which Yuta's family comes to visit, and no matter how many time Yuta insists that Winwin isn't his boyfriend, Winwin keeps showing up and acting like he is.)
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Side Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Series: The Pining Idiots of Angel Café [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1158218
Comments: 10
Kudos: 246





	The Honest Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> Written for #S078.
> 
> Prompt: Yuwin university au where yuta is a star player on the soccer team and sicheng is the newest member of the cheerleaders/dance troupe that perform during halftime.
> 
> Pairing: Yuta/Winwin
> 
> Include: Yuta trying (and failing) to impress sicheng with his soccer skills and sicheng being a badass and doing all the spins and aerials

It was a truth universally acknowledged that Yuta was absolutely _gone_ on Dong Sicheng. Yuta’s host brother Jaemin knew it from the amount of times Yuta giggled at his texts. His coworkers knew it from the amount of times Yuta brought Winwin food during his morning shift. Hell, even the guys on his soccer team knew it from the amount of times Yuta offered to walk Winwin home. And yeah, it was kind of obvious that Winwin was embarrassed everytime Yuta did something, but Winwin was too cute to _not_ spoil.

His friends made fun of him. Yuta got used to being called “Winwin’s waifu” and “like a little fangirl.” And as someone with a gender studies minor, the heteronormativity was a little grating sometimes. But most of the time, Yuta just rolled with it. Sure, he followed Winwin around like a puppy, but Winwin never told him to stop.

Until one day, Yuta realized that Winwin looked uncomfortable with all the hugs and the cooing and affection. In contrast, Winwin was noticeably brighter with his cousin Renjun and the dayshift manager Kun. And while Yuta could spend the rest of his life listening to Winwin giggle at that new kid Yangyang’s antics during International Student Association meetings, it hurt a little that Yuta couldn’t produce the same smiles and shiny eyes.

He started pulling himself away slowly, still buying Winwin things and walking him home, but he decided not to try as hard. Less hugs, less hair ruffling, less seeking him out after practice. After all, it was clear that Winwin’s affections laid with other people. And Yuta, at the end of the day, was a gentleman, and even though all his friends teased him otherwise, he did know how to take a hint.

Yuta decided he was done when he got hit in the face with a soccer ball.

Well, technically, it was the _third_ time he got hit that week. The first time was during practice. It was actually easy to dismiss that one, since he had kicked the ball at the same time the whole cheerleading team walking by. Because Yuta was warming up more or less by himself, no one really noticed when the soccer ball hit the goal post and hit Yuta solidly on the side of his head. The lack of witnesses, however, did not mean that Yuta wasn’t embarrassed for the rest of the day. In fact, later at work, Taeyong had to ask Johnny to smack Yuta a few times during his shift at Angel Café.

(Just so you know? Getting smacked by Johnny was _not_ fun.)

The second time, Jaemin had his friends over at their house. One thing led to another, and Yuta wound up showing them a bunch of tricks with a soccer ball. And he had managed to successfully impress the gaggle of underclassmen, until Winwin strolled in to pick up Renjun and their other cousin Chenle. That time, Winwin poked his soft, fluffy head through the doorway, apologized for interrupting, and then smiled a smile so beautiful that Yuta forgot about the soccer ball until it hit the top of his head on its way down.

(Thankfully, all teenagers rushed to greet Winwin, so no one noticed this time either.)

The third time—as in, the most public one—was in the middle of a game, and Yuta got distracted by the cheerleaders performing on the sidelines. He had just watched Winwin do a backflip then land doing the splits. And Yuta had been so impressed that he didn’t even notice the flying soccer ball until it was too late. Fortunately, nothing too damaging happened. His nose was fine, they still won the game, and Winwin didn’t even notice that Yuta had been staring at all. And sure, the whole soccer team wondered what the hell was wrong with him, but honestly? Yuta was glad that he got hit. He deserved it, after all. He wasn’t paying attention, and so he suffered the consequences. It was exactly the kind of reality check Yuta needed.

Because sometimes, realizations don't come slowly. And even though Yuta hadn’t expected it to be quite so literal, sometimes reality checks come out of the blue, catching you off guard and slamming right into your face.

“ _Hyung_ , what happened out there?”

Yuta sighed, closing his gym locker and tossing his letterman jacket onto a nearby bench. “I’m fine, Lucas, don’t worry about—”

“Hey, Xuxi?” a voice chimed in from the direction of the locker room door. “May I borrow your jacket? It looks as if it will rain, and I know Kun- _ge_ has an umbrella…”

If Yuta were listening, he would have realized that they were speaking in Chinese. But Yuta wasn’t listening at all, mostly because he was a little busy hiding in a nearby bathroom stall. And this, this right here, was Yuta’s problem. For an embarrassingly long time now, Yuta had always been at least a little bit in love with Winwin. He was just so cute and so pretty and _everytime Winwin was around, Yuta couldn’t breathe_ —

The locker room was quiet again, and Yuta sheepishly poked his head out of the stall.

“ _Hyung_ , where did you—?” Lucas stopped midway to the stall. “Oh. There you are…”

“Sorry, Lucas,” Yuta pursed his lips. “I’m fine now. I just…”

“You’re not getting sick, are you?” And oh no, Lucas had shiny worried puppy eyes.

“I’m fine!” Yuta said quickly. “I just… Ah, well. It’s a little embarrassing.”

“Oh?”

“Well, you see… it’s about Winwin. Er, you know Winwin, right?” 

“Winwin? Of course! Sicheng- _ge_ is one of the cheerleaders we see everyday. He lives in my dorm section, and actually, he was just in here…” Lucas tilted his head like the oversized puppy he was. “Actually, why did you hide? Don’t you like spending time with him?”

“Well… I mean,” Yuta looked at Lucas sheepishly. “It’s just… I’ve had a crush on him for a while, and… I’m starting to think that maybe I should get over him.”

Lucas blinked. Once. Twice. “You mean, without confessing your feelings? _Hyung_ …why would you do that?” 

“Because! My feelings are distracting!” Yuta pointed at where he got hit today.

“ _Hyung_ , you don’t have to give up on your feelings just because of a little bruise—”

“But Coach is right! I could have lost the game today—”

“Except you didn’t—”

“I could have though!”

Lucas stared in disbelief, and Yuta vaguely recalled that Lucas was basically a fairytale baby: with a successful travelling businessman for a father and a commoner hairdresser for a mother. Of course Lucas couldn’t understand _not_ chasing after the love of your life.

“This is gonna work, Lucas,” Yuta reassured him. “It’s a flawless plan! What could possibly go wrong?”

Before Lucas could answer, Yuta’s phone rang. At the same time, Kim Jungwoo poked his head into their locker room, looking for Lucas.

"There you are, Lucas!" Jungwoo said. "Hurry up! You said I could take you shopping today! _Let’s go!_ Hendery and Xiaojun are waiting, and Kun- _hyung_ will be here any minute!"

“Oh. Right. Hey, _hyung_? I’m just”—Lucas awkwardly pointed at Jungwoo—“gonna go…”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Go make out with your boyfriend.”

Lucas scowled. “ _Hyung_ , we're not dating." Then, half to himself and half to Jungwoo, he asked, "Why does everyone always think we're dating…?”

“Probably because I flirt with you.”

“But _hyung_ , you flirt with _everyone_ …” 

Yuta’s phone rang again, and with one hand, Yuta finally answered his incessantly ringing phone. “Hello?” he said, shooing Lucas away with his other hand.

“Hello, Baby Brother Dearest.”

Yuta’s stomach dropped. _Shit, he forgot_ . “Uh, hey, _Nee-san_ …” Yuta replied, suddenly frantically packing his bag with one hand.

“Well, that wasn’t very enthusiastic,” Momoka said. “Are you not excited to see your two favorite sisters?”

“ _We’re his only sisters, Nee-san_ ,” Haruna groaned in the background.

“Blah, blah, blah, I can’t hear you, baby sister—”

“Don’t you both have packing to do?” Yuta sighed, pretending to sound already tired while fighting a grin off his face. Honestly, he had missed his sisters both terribly, even if they were a bit much sometimes.

“Relax, Yu- _chan_ ,” Momoka replied. “ _Tou-san_ and _Oka-san_ haven’t even come back from getting you snacks.”

“ _Man, why does bringing stuff into a country have to be such a hassle?_ ” Haruna complained. “ _They have watermelon in Korea, so why do we have to bring you some?_ ”

“Haru- _chan_ , be nice,” Momoka said. “It’s the least we can do, since he, quite sadly, still doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

Yuta rolled his eyes, exiting the locker room. “For the last time, I don’t need a—”

“Or do you want a boyfriend instead? I know you’re not picky about that sort of thing.”

“ _Nee-san_ ,” Yuta hissed. “I—” And of course—because Yuta’s life just worked like that sometimes—he was momentarily distracted by an adorable giggle, and Yuta looked up just in time to see that Winwin was giggling at something Lucas was saying to his twin brother Hendery. _God, he had it bad…_

This was ridiculous. This had to stop.

“Look, _Nee-san_ ,” Yuta said suddenly, “I’ve gotta go. I’ll pick you all up at the airport next week.” And before his sister could protest, he hung up the phone, tore his eyes away from Winwin, and dashed away from his feelings.

He had a family visit to prepare for.

* * *

Just in case you were wondering, no. Yuta absolutely did _not_ hyperfixate on his family’s visit to distract himself from his pathetic crush on Winwin. He did _not_ throw himself into a week’s worth of planning and cleaning to keep himself occupied away from Winwin. And when his family finally arrived, Yuta most certainly did _not_ pointedly keep his gaze on his family’s place in the stands to keep himself from looking at the cheerleaders.

That would be ridiculous.

It was, admittedly, a little difficult _not_ to look at his family. They must have raided the university bookstore at some point, because they were all decked out in all sorts of apparel and accessories, screaming through a plastic cone—and where did Momoka get pompoms and a giant foam finger?

Other than his embarrassing family, the game was fine: it didn’t rain, Lucas—as their goalie—saved the ball numerous times, and Yuta scored the winning goal. And Yuta was so high off their win that by the time he reached his celebrating family, he almost forgot about—

“ _Hyung_!” a voice called, and it wasn’t until Yuta was halfway turned around that he started panicking. _Because why was Winwin calling out to him?_ And why now? When Yuta was sweaty and covered in dirt and grass and had been haphazardly sprayed with AXE after his little sister had wrinkled her nose at him—

“Oh, hi, Winwin!” Yuta replied nervously, because he couldn’t exactly run away from a cute boy in front of his family. His sisters would never let him live it down.

“ _Hyung_ ,” Winwin said again, and Yuta suddenly realized that Winwin has holding out a bundle for Yuta to grab. “I wanted to return your jacket. It was raining the other day, and I grew worried when I hadn’t seen you all week—”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it!” Yuta quickly interrupted, taking back the jacket. Huh. He’d been so busy preparing for his family’s visit that he hadn’t even realized his jacket had been gone in the first place.

“I feel as though I must apologize. I had all week, and yet I still didn’t get the chance to wash it or anything…”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it!” _God, Yuta, say something creative, why don’t you?_ “It’s okay. If you didn’t wash it. I mean, you must be busy a lot, so like—”

“But I wanted to!” Winwin exclaimed. “I do not want you to think of me as someone irresponsible—”

“I would never!” Yuta said, a little too loudly. Then, lowering his voice, he said once more, “I would never. Think badly of you. Really.”

“Oh,” Winwin said shyly. “Um, thanks. I will keep that in mind.”

“Yeah…” Yuta could feel the blood rushing to his face. _Oh God, maybe he should just stop talking_. “Yeah. So. I—”

Winwin blinked as he stared at Yuta’s body. Once. Twice. And right as he was opening his mouth to say something—

“Sicheng- _ge_!” And Yuta immediately recognized Renjun, who was standing with the rest of his posse of fellow underclassmen. Jeno and Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung, and even their newest friend Yangyang.

“Ah, I’d better go…” Winwin said sheepishly.

“Right. Yeah. Go ahead.”

“It was nice seeing you, _hyung!_ See you around!” And with that, Winwin waved as he left Yuta behind.

“So,” Momoka said, appearing suddenly and poking Yuta’s cheek. “Who was that?”

“No one important,” Yuta said quickly, turning to stride back towards their parents. “No one important at all.” But because he was still a little morbidly curious, Yuta surreptitiously lifted the jacket to his nose and took a hesitant sniff.

It smelled vaguely of strawberry cake.

* * *

And no. Yuta was not _purposely_ avoiding Winwin. He absolutely did not jam-pack his schedule to avoid Winwin’s (and admittedly, also his own) place of employment.

That would be ridiculous.

But of course, because he’d made a promise to Johnny and Taeyong, he knew he couldn’t avoid Angel Café forever. And so, there he was, leading his family from an art gallery to his best friends’ café for lunch.

“I am excited to meet your friends, Yu- _chan_ ,” his father was saying. “You speak very highly of them.”

“They’re amazing people,” Yuta shrugged, pretending he wasn’t a little embarrassed by his father’s words. “Between going to school and opening their own business, they still made time to gather all of us as friends and make us dinner.”

“Sounds like they took care of you when we couldn’t,” his mother teased.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, _Oka-san_. Nothing beats your cooking, after all.”

“Ah, I knew there was a reason why you were my favorite son.”

Yuta laughed and playfully rolled his eyes. “I’m your only son,” Yuta said, opening the café door. But because he was looking at his mother as he entered, he failed to notice who was behind the counter until it was too late.

“Hi, _hyung_!”

Yuta gulped. "Um, hey, Winwin!" _Why was this his life?_ "How are you?"

“I feel better now that you’re here!” Winwin’s grin was sunny as he picked up a plate of—“We didn’t have any of your favorite strawberry cake, which I do apologize for… But I have this strawberry cheesecake brownie thing instead!”

Yuta blinked a little stupidly, half because he was still trying to process Winwin’s presence, and half because, “Strawberry cheesecake brownies?”

“I know, it sounds strange,” Winwin said. “But it’s a layer of brownie, and on top is strawberry sauce swirled into the layer of cheesecake. Julie was showing me this recipe, and I immediately thought of you! Since you like strawberry cake and all…”

“Wait,” Yuta said, pointing at the brownie on the plate. “Did you make this?”

“Well, yeah. I asked Taeyong- _hyung_ if he could teach me how to bake…” And suddenly, Winwin was holding up the cheesecake brownie. “Would you mind trying some?”

If Yuta had been in his right mind, he would have realized that his family was staring. He would have realized he was holding up the line. He would have realized that leaning over the counter like this probably wasn’t hygienic at all. But seeing as he was hypnotized by Winwin’s hopeful eyes, he didn’t even take into account that he was biting into the brownie while Winwin was still holding it, all while Winwin gently kept his other hand under Yuta’s chin, presumably to catch crumbs. In fact, Yuta hadn’t even noticed it was there until Winwin brushed his thumb over Yuta’s lip.

“You had some crumbs,” Winwin explained, an all-too satisfied quirk to his smile.

It was all a blur after that. Yuta was high on _being fed_ by the love of his life, and he didn’t even realize that he was sitting down with his family until Haruna smacked him back into reality.

“Ow!” Yuta whined. “What was that for?!”

“ _Nii_ -san,” she hissed. “Why didn’t you tell us you had a boyfriend?!”

It took Yuta a second to realise that she meant Winwin. “I don’t!” he hissed back. “He just works here—”

“But I did see him at your game,” Momoka said unhelpfully. “He said he was returning your jacket—”

“Ooh, he borrowed your jacket? You sly fox—”

“He’s a cheerleader,” Yuta tried to explain. “So of course he was at the game—”

“Girls,” their father said gently. “Don’t tease your brother so much. Isn’t it obvious that he just confessed and was too busy cleaning his room?”

Yuta started choking. _“Tou-san, please—”_

“Oh, don’t you dare start with that,” their mother scoffed. “It took _you_ three years to confess to me, and it took you almost _two months_ to make our relationship public—”

“Ah, well,” Yuta’s father turned pink. “You were beautiful and intimidating, what was I supposed to do?”

And with that, their mother immediately softened. “Oh, darling…”

Yuta exchanged a look with his sisters. _Oh boy, here they go again…_

* * *

The days he spent with his family turned out to be the longest of Yuta’s life. It seemed that everywhere he went, Winwin was just _there_. When Yuta, Jaemin, and his mother went to the grocery store, Winwin was there. Apparently, Winwin was taking Renjun and Yangyang shopping for something, and at the sight of their fellow 00-liner, Renjun and Yangyang excitedly whisked away Jaemin, leaving Winwin alone with Yuta and Yuta’s mother.

By the end of the shopping trip, Winwin had successfully charmed Yuta’s mother into showing him a bunch of baby pictures of Yuta. The two of them giggled over baby pajamas and food-stained faces, and all Yuta could do was follow slightly behind, _actually collecting the goddamn groceries they’d come for in the first place_.

“He’s a lovely boy, Yu- _chan_ ,” his mother had said to him later. “And he didn’t even make fun of you for loving princess dresses when you were little. I’m happy you met him.”

Yuta didn’t respond, pretending to be busy unpacking the groceries instead.

But of course, Yuta’s troubles weren’t over. When he and his father had gone out to the park for a walk, they ran into Winwin, who had been there watching his roommate Jaehyun and Lucas kick around a soccer ball. Recognizing Winwin as the “nice boy from the café,” Yuta’s father waved Winwin over and struck up a conversation. And by the end of it all, when Yuta and his father finally began walking home, Yuta was even more perturbed than before.

“You gave Winwin your matcha cake recipe,” Yuta hissed. “It took Momoka’s girlfriend _forever_ to get that recipe, and you just _gave_ it to Winwin?!”

Yuta’s father simply shrugged. “He’s a nice young man, Yu- _chan_. And he just wants to make you happy. Anyone who loves my son that much is trustworthy. As for your sister’s girlfriend, she took entirely too long to officially ask Momo- _chan_ out.”

Yuta, too stunned to answer, spent the rest of the walk home barely avoiding traffic.

But then, days later, Yuta took his family to sightsee around the city, they ran into Winwin _again_. But this time, he was by himself, heading towards a cheerleading competition.

“Oh, Win- _chan_!” Yuta’s mother had called out to him. “Where’s your family? Surely they’d like to support you.”

“Ah, well,” Winwin smiled sheepishly at the ground, raising an arm to scratch the back of his head. “My little brother’s choir concert is today. So they’re going to watch him instead.”

Momoka exchanged a look with Haruna, then turned back to Winwin. “What if we came to watch instead? Would that be alright?”

And that was how Yuta wound up watching Winwin’s exhibition that day. As luck would have it, Yuta was wearing his letterman jacket, the same one that Winwin had accidentally borrowed not so long ago. And Yuta could hear Winwin’s teammates Minghao and Junhui—if Yuta recalled correctly—whispering in Chinese. Yuta vaguely heard “Sicheng” and “boyfriend,” but they were speaking too quickly for Yuta’s conversational-at-best Chinese.

The hard part came when Yuta’s family asked Winwin to join them for dinner. By all accounts, the evening was an enjoyable one. Yuta’s family enjoyed the performance, and even though Yuta’s mood was quietly and slowly souring throughout the night, even he had to admit that Winwin, as always, was breathtaking.

As dinner carried on, Yuta let himself become more and more distant. His family kept all of their attention on Winwin, and Yuta really couldn’t have gotten a word in edgewise anyhow.

“What are you studying, Win- _chan_?” Yuta’s mother asked.

“Linguistics, Winwin replied, if a bit sheepishly. “I am unsure as to what I will do with it, but I really do enjoy the comparative/cross-cultural aspect.”

“And that’s all that matters! You still have time to figure it out.”

“Perhaps translating?” Yuta’s father suggested. “It’s certainly a plus to be multilingual in today’s market.”

And the conversation didn’t stay there. When the conversation turned back to Winwin’s performance earlier, his older sister fangirled over Winwin’s makeup, and Haruna asked for advice on how to improve her own dancing. With every comment and compliment, Winwin looked equal parts flattered and happy, smiling shyly and _—_

It was Winwin with his Chinese friends all over again. Winwin never looked that happy whenever he was with Yuta…

“Hey, I’m gonna go wash my hands.” Yuta said softly to Momoka next to him, momentarily distracting her from Winwin’s story involving goody-two-shoes _Jeno_ of all people dying Yangyang’s hair orange.

Momoka barely spared him a glance, just nodded then slid out of the booth to let him out. And without saying anything else, Yuta left the restaurant.

For the first time in almost a week, Yuta was walking around Seoul alone. And it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. There was no ribbing from his sisters, no stress in planning an activity for the day, and best of all, there was no one to judge him for any of his decisions. For once, he could just relax, take a deep breath, and just—

“Yuta- _hyung_!”

But Yuta didn’t dare turn around. After all, he had pulled his hood up over his head, so maybe if he just ignored it, he could continue making his way downtown, walking fast—

“Why are you running?” Yuta heard behind him. _“Why are you running?!”_

You know what? Fuck peace and quiet, it was time to _walk faster._ Yuta began power walking down the street, because if figuratively running away from his problems didn’t work, maybe _physically_ running would.

It didn’t, of course.

Because just barely, and only because he was listening for it, Yuta suddenly heard: “Alright, you know what? _Fuck this._ ”

And suddenly, Yuta began barrelling down the street. He had a head start, after all, and his pursuer probably wasn’t expecting it. Yuta could probably get lost in the crowd, and hopefully whoever was following would give up the chase.

But this is a fanfiction, and so it follows that the cards were not going to play in Yuta’s favor. That much was clear when he heard footsteps running behind him. And so Yuta ran. He ran across the street, veered off the sidewalk, and ducked into a park. It was after dark, and Yuta was hoping that he could hide in the shadows. Instead, he was halfway to a playground when he was violently tackled to the ground.

If the wind wasn’t knocked out of Yuta from the impact, it definitely was at the sight of Winwin on top of him.

For a while, they didn’t say anything. Instead they just stared at each other, both breathing heavily and trying to catch their breaths. Now, Yuta wasn’t exactly sure what he expected to find in Winwin’s eyes, but it certainly wasn’t anger and frustration.

“Why?” Winwin asked breathlessly. “Why do you keep leaving me?”

Yuta blinked. “ _Keep_ leaving you?”

“You don’t wait for me anymore. I can’t remember the last time you walked with me. I feel as if you never see me anymore…”

“But I see you all the time? I’ve seen you so much, in fact, that my family knows who you are now—”

“That,” Winwin snapped, “was not what I meant. That was me seeing you. But you… You don’t come see me anymore.” At this point, Winwin looked like he was on the verge of tears. “You don’t see me anymore, _and I don’t know what I did wrong…_ ” 

Yuta shut his eyes. “It’s not you…” he whispered. “It’s me.”

“ _Hyung…_ Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re not happy with me!” Yuta sighed. “You always seem so embarrassed with me, but with your roommate Jaehyun, with the other Chinese international students… Hell, even with _Ten_ , you smile a lot more. Even with my own family! You were so comfortable with them, but—”

“ _Stop_ ,” Winwin said suddenly.

Yuta shut up immediately. Partly because he wasn’t used to Winwin interrupting him, and partly because _holy shit, Winwin literally just clapped his hand over Yuta’s mouth._

Not now, boner.

“I’m bad,“ Winwin said. “At talking, that is. And I have always been more comfortable with people I don’t have a crush on.”

Something short-circuited in Yuta’s brain. _Wait, what_ — _?_

“You were so bright, the day we met,” Winwin continued. “And I was so shy and nervous… I didn’t know what to say to you. And by the time I figured out _what_ to say, I couldn’t figure out _how_ to say it. But it didn’t matter! You seemed to like me anyway! You spent all this time and money on me and with me, but I didn’t know how to thank you. Nothing ever seemed to be good enough, and so I just…froze. I didn’t know how to express myself to you, not when you make me feel so much all at once. 

“Then suddenly, you stopped seeing me! Everyone seemed to not notice your change in behavior, but they did keep putting me in circumstances in which I kept running into you. I’d overheard them saying we needed help getting together. I swear I didn’t mean to invite myself to your family time, but I wanted so badly to get to know you, since all of a sudden, you weren’t next to me, that I summoned my courage and met your family.

“Your family is lovely, by the way. They’re so kind and open-hearted, and they love you so, _so_ much. But I promise you, Yuta. You are my favorite person your family. And I’ve missed you.” By now, Winwin’s hand had left Yuta’s mouth, drifting down to join his other hand in gripping Yuta’s shirt. Winwin had also lowered his upper body until his forehead was resting on Yuta’s chest. Winwin let out a shaky breath.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t brave before, but please. Let me be brave now.”

A beat of silence. Two. And then, slowly and carefully, Winwin lifted his head to meet Yuta’s gaze. Winwin seemed nervous, as if he was afraid of what he might see.

“So, um,” Yuta gulped. “You…like me?”

Winwin laughed, a little hysterically. “Yes, Yuta. In fact, I like you so much, it almost hurts.”

“Oh thank God,” Yuta whispered back, a grin splitting his face in half. “Because I like you too.” And suddenly, he was laughing too.

Yuta’s sisters were never going to let him live it down. But for once…Yuta didn’t care.

* * *

Kissing Winwin was easily the best feeling in Yuta’s world. It felt like the center of gravity had shifted, and everything else just fell away. It made Yuta giddy, wanting to dance at the top of a mountain until he was breathless. It was like his darkened heart had suddenly cracked open, a bright light shining in and almost blinding him, and above it all, his feelings screamed—

“What the _fuck_?!”

Like a spooked deer, Winwin ripped himself off of Yuta and scrambled away from him—not that he could go very far in this janitor’s closet, but it was enough to jar Yuta out of his little bubble.

“Um,” Winwin squeaked. “I-I can explain—”

“Julie?” Johnny came scrambling in, a panicked look in his eyes. “What happen—?”

Johnny stared at Yuta. Yuta stared back. And even though he and Winwin were still fully clothed, Yuta still couldn’t help but feel incredibly exposed.

“Yuta, what the hell!”

Yuta coughed awkwardly. “Um, I—”

“You didn’t tell me that you finally made a move? _Really?!_ ”

“Well… I mean… I didn’t exactly tell _anyone_ , not just you…”

“How long, Yuta?!” Johnny demanded. “How long have you had a boyfriend and not told me? _Your best friend?_ ”

Yuta looked at Winwin, who actually wound up being the one to answer the question. “Please don’t get mad at Yuta, Johnny- _hyung_ , but… It’ll be three months on Saturday…”

Johnny sucked in a breath, burying his face in his hands. “Three months…”

“It was because of me, though!” Winwin quickly protested. “I was shy about all the attention—”

Suddenly, Julie looked positively horrified. “Oh my God… I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

If Winwin didn’t look so deliciously rumpled right now, Yuta would have found his confusion cute. “What for?”

“Well, I mean,” Julie spluttered. “For outing you! If you were in the closet, you obviously didn’t want anyone to know—”

“Well, of course they’re in a closet, Jules, who the hell makes out in broad daylight?!”

“ _You_ do, Johnald. You and Taeyong are literally exhibitionists.”

Johnny gave an offended scoff, but before he could retort, Taeyong rushed in with a worried expression, clearly from baking. “I heard yelling! Is everything alright—?”

“Um,” Winwin said. “Hi, Taeyong- _hyung_.”

Taeyong took in their messy appearances, closed his eyes and huffed. “God, you two.” But to Yuta’s surprise, Taeyong turned to Johnny and Julie. “Seriously? I thought someone had gotten hurt!”

Johnny snorted. “Maybe there was. After all, poor little Julie is probably blind now—”

“And seriously, you two!” Taeyong barreled on. “ _Here?_ In my kitchen?!”

Yuta flushed. “I—”

“You shut up!” Taeyong pointed the baking spoon at Yuta threateningly. “You’ve done nothing but lie since you’ve gotten here today!”

“Taeyong- _hyung_ , please don’t be mad,” Winwin pouted.

Taeyong stared at Winwin for a while, glanced up at Johnny—who just shrugged—and sighed. “Alright, fine. But from here on out, find a more appropriate place to do your business. Closets really aren’t comfortable. Trust me, I would know.”

Julie spluttered again. “Wait, you mean”—her eyes widened as she whirled around to yell at Johnny—”seriously?! You hypocrite!”

And while Johnny and Julie began bickering like the siblings they probably were in a past life, Winwin leaned back over Yuta.

“Wanna get out of here?” he whispered in Yuta’s ear.

And maybe it was a little too sincere of answer for Winwin’s mischievous giggles, but Yuta leaned back to look Winwin in his eyes.

“I would follow you anywhere.”

Winwin huffed a flustered laugh. “I know. It makes me nervous sometimes.”

Yuta cupped Winwin’s cheek. “Hey, they’re all gonna know about us now. Are you going to be okay with that?”

To Yuta’s surprise, Winwin nodded. “Yes. I have you by my side, after all.”

“Alright,” Yuta said, grabbing Winwin’s hand. “Let’s go.”

And together they stepped out of the closet.

**Author's Note:**

> so. hi.
> 
> i originally wrote this for the 127 ficfest. however, seeing as i was unable to finish it by the deadline, i decided to post it separately from the fest instead.
> 
> i don't think i even fulfilled the original prompt, but oh well.
> 
> in any case, i finally got to what is more or less the end of this series. that is to say, if i don't write a story centered on my oc julie. but i'm not sure if anyone would be interested...
> 
> /////////
> 
> Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send them to my [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/princessgongju1)!  
> A link to my ko-fi page can also be found in my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/princessgongju1) bio!  
> Thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you in the next one!


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